Israel and Australia's alliance ‘getting worse' by the week
Ms Elsworth told Sky News Australia that it is a combination of the Albanese government cancelling an Israeli politician's visa and the announcement of Australia recognising Palestinian statehood.
'This has really got under the skin of Benjamin Netanyahu.'
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The Age
16 minutes ago
- The Age
Albanese's response to blistering personal attack struck the right tone
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found himself standing precipitously in the path of a potentially disastrous international storm blasting in from Israel overnight when his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu called him a 'weak' apologist for Hamas. In a blistering letter sent in response to Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state and a diplomatic tit-for-tat visa row, the conservative Israeli leader did not hold back. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' Netanyahu wrote. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,' the letter reads. 'It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas' refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.' Loading It doesn't get much more personal or damning than that, and there was a collective holding of breath as the nation waited to see how the Australian leader would respond as Australian-Israeli relations hit a new low. When he broke his silence about noon, Albanese was measured in tone. Speaking from South Australia, he said he treated foreign leaders 'with respect' and didn't take the description of him as 'weak' personally. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect, I engage with them in a diplomatic way,' Albanese said, declining to descend into an ugly verbal exchange with his Israeli counterpart. The Herald supports this measured tone. There is no upside for Australia getting drawn into a personal slanging match between nations. The latest flare-up in tensions came when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's department cancelled a visa this week for far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, based on his views and comments that included calling Gazan children 'enemies' of Israel. While Albanese played a straight bat, he used Burke as his attack dog. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Burke told ABC radio. While many conservative commentators are appalled at the actions of the Albanese government and would back the overall sentiment of Netanyahu, if not his exact language, this is by no means universal. Some sections of the Jewish community in Australia called out Netanyahu for overstepping the mark. Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler described Netanyahu's comments as 'entirely unhelpful and unproductive', while Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community had 'never felt abandoned by this government'. So clearly, there is a view that Netanyahu was out of line, and while there is room for debate on Labor's actions on Palestine, the reaction by the Israeli leader was disproportionate. For now, Albanese is correct to focus on the more substantive issues, such as an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza that has dragged on for far too long, rather than play personal politics. But he must also keep pressure on the Palestinian side to uphold its end of the bargain and help ensure any future state rejects terrorism, turns away from Hamas and commits to a peaceful co-existence with its neighbour.
Sydney Morning Herald
16 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Albanese's response to blistering personal attack struck the right tone
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found himself standing precipitously in the path of a potentially disastrous international storm blasting in from Israel overnight when his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu called him a 'weak' apologist for Hamas. In a blistering letter sent in response to Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state and a diplomatic tit-for-tat visa row, the conservative Israeli leader did not hold back. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' Netanyahu wrote. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,' the letter reads. 'It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas' refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.' Loading It doesn't get much more personal or damning than that, and there was a collective holding of breath as the nation waited to see how the Australian leader would respond as Australian-Israeli relations hit a new low. When he broke his silence about noon, Albanese was measured in tone. Speaking from South Australia, he said he treated foreign leaders 'with respect' and didn't take the description of him as 'weak' personally. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect, I engage with them in a diplomatic way,' Albanese said, declining to descend into an ugly verbal exchange with his Israeli counterpart. The Herald supports this measured tone. There is no upside for Australia getting drawn into a personal slanging match between nations. The latest flare-up in tensions came when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's department cancelled a visa this week for far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, based on his views and comments that included calling Gazan children 'enemies' of Israel. While Albanese played a straight bat, he used Burke as his attack dog. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Burke told ABC radio. While many conservative commentators are appalled at the actions of the Albanese government and would back the overall sentiment of Netanyahu, if not his exact language, this is by no means universal. Some sections of the Jewish community in Australia called out Netanyahu for overstepping the mark. Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler described Netanyahu's comments as 'entirely unhelpful and unproductive', while Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community had 'never felt abandoned by this government'. So clearly, there is a view that Netanyahu was out of line, and while there is room for debate on Labor's actions on Palestine, the reaction by the Israeli leader was disproportionate. For now, Albanese is correct to focus on the more substantive issues, such as an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza that has dragged on for far too long, rather than play personal politics. But he must also keep pressure on the Palestinian side to uphold its end of the bargain and help ensure any future state rejects terrorism, turns away from Hamas and commits to a peaceful co-existence with its neighbour.
Sky News AU
16 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Neighbours hurl anti-Semitic slurs at father of Georgia woman killed working for Israel's border patrol: video
A grieving father of an American woman killed while serving on Israel's border patrol was verbally abused by neighbors who shouted antisemitic slurs and mocked him for his daughter's death, according to the hurting dad and video. Sgt. Elisheva Rose Ida Lubin, 20, was stabbed to death by a teenage 'terrorist' while patrolling Jerusalem's Old City in November 2023. Rose was a 'lone soldier' living in Israel without her family after immigrating there in August 2021 and starting her mandated army duty in March 2022 — more than a year before the Israel-Hamas War officially began. Her father, David Lubin, hasn't known peace since his daughter's untimely death. Back home in Atlanta, where Rose lived with her family before moving to Israel, David said he's been frequently harassed by his vindictive neighbors who labeled the mourning father as a 'corrupt Israeli.' The simmering tensions between the two households came to a head when David posted signage honoring Rose across from his neighbors, who had other signs claiming support for Palestinians alongside bits covered with derogatory Jewish slurs, he said. Rose Lubin was killed after a teenage 'terrorist' stabbed her while on patrol in November 2023. Picture: Israel Police David went across the street to confront his neighbours, who defended the use of the slur. Picture: David Lubin David told Atlanta News First that he never took issue with his neighbors' signs, as they had a right to display whatever they wanted. He tried to shake off their comments, at first — until he said he heard the irate woman call him a 'k–e' and shout that 'your daughter deserved to die,' he told the outlet. David marched across the street and confronted his neighbors while they each filmed one another on their phones. David Lubin's neighbours called out to him from across the road. Picture: David Lubin 'You are calling yourself a k–e, you know what you are. You know what you are better than me. You are a corrupt politician with a daughter in the IDF that went there to kill, and has killed maybe in friendly fire because the Israeli soldiers kill each other all the time, and you know very well,' one of his neighbors, Anna Bouyzk, insisted as they argued over the meaning of the Jewish slur. Bouyzk and her husband Mark, the co-founder of the bought-out genetics company AKESOgen, went on to insist Rose's death was okay because 'she was fighting.' 'Do you realize when you say that how disgusting you are? You are disgusting. You are disgusting. You are the most disgusting person I've ever met. 'Because you're a Jew, you don't understand'? You are so confused,' David spat. Anna Bouyzk allegedly told David that Rose's death was his fault. Picture: David Lubin Bouyzk insisted that she isn't a 'Jew hater' because she has other 'Jew friends'. Picture: David Lubin Bouyzk later doubled down and told the outlet that she had no qualms about lobbing the detestable slur at David. 'I don't regret what I said, and I'll say it a million times again. And I'm not a Jew hater because I have Jew friends,' she told the outlet. Bouyzk admitted, almost proudly, that she called David on Monday and told him that he was responsible for his daughter's death. David, growing desperate, said he is considering reporting Bouyzk's harassment to local police. Originally published as Neighbours hurl anti-Semitic slurs at father of Georgia woman killed working for Israel's border patrol: video
